A Roman dagger is a Puggio double blade leaf shaped. 

 

I didnt get amything done but checked on my mistake with KOL and now have a new back for forge I think.

On 10/2/2021 at 10:02 AM, Mr.Thirsty_Work said:

Well, here ya go...

that knife is beautiful would get lots of great use in these fingers. One day I hope to achieve that nice of work well done sir.

16 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

BillyBones:  perhaps a Falcata? 

Thomas, i look at photos of that and the kupris and really cannot much difference. But now i think you are right, the one with the chain for a finger guard thingy. 

Regardless of what it comes out as i am going to have fun making it and really really hope it survives. I have only made a handful of ok knives so this is quite the undertaking for me. 

I put the new bench in the forge after work tonight, bunged the lads a few quid to stay back and help. 

Seeing as we had to move the anvil to get the bench in I decided to weigh it. My scale is designed to hand from a crane so we put a sling on the anvil then the scale then another sling over a lifting bar. 

We got the reading up to 170kg (375 LB) before we ran out of strength and it never moved. Ended up putting bars under it and 4 of us lifted it out of the way. 

Top tip, don't try lifting an anvil if you have a bad hip, I have never been in so much pain as I am right now. 

I'm going back down there on Saturday to put all my tools away and sort it all out and hopefully have enough time to light the fire. 

Just remember: sore hips are not improved by cauterization.

When I got my Fisher that was the anvil for a Blacker Power Hammer and 469#, I had a meeting of the MOB at my house and had 4 friends slide pipe through the two hardies and lifted it up and carried it into the shop.  Of course it would have worked better if they had waited till I went in and unlocked the main shop doors before lifting it up!  This was the creation of one of my sayings "Never lift an anvil up until you have a place to set it back down available!"    (When travelling, it boils down to "unload the stumps first and set them up!")

I completed another chandelier. It remains to pack and ship.

That's beautiful. 

Thomas that is excellent advice on anvil lifting. 

As I get older common sense seems to be getting more common.  It's also one of my bywords to never put an anvil on the ground; even a couple of feet up will really help  lifting a heavy object.

alexandr,

That chandelier is absolutely stunning. I'm always amazed at your work.

Always stunning and produced at an astounding rate.

A true magician.  

9 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

As I get older common sense seems to be getting more common. 

That's because we learn by our mistakes. The older you get the more time you have had to make mistakes. I should be an expert at everything by now. 

Guys, thanks!

I can see it on a bumper sticker or t-shirt.   If we learn from our mistakes, I should be omniscient.

Made a handled punch from a small ball peen.

 

My forge is outside as well. Here in the desert I have sand and gravel to work on, so I used a stack of RR tie plates I had for a floor. Flipped them upside down and laid them down like tiles. Swept some sand over the top to fill any gaps, and it works great.

We went from sweating like racehorses to needing long sleeves in the mornings in like a week. I had a couple of inquiries about smiths in the valley from a couple of moms whose kids are interested. One is 11 the other 16, and you guessed it....knives and swords LOL. I had a chat with one family so far, and let it be known that those are not beginner projects. I am not set up myself for teaching-forge is still not set up since the county incident a few years ago that took the wind out of my sails - but I'll see about getting them set up at their homes. The 11 year old is already somewhat set up, just needs some help with the details.

It has been almost 4 years since the county ravaged my property, and I have been in a deep funk for awhile. I need to get out and do something other than hang out on the net all day. There is more than just the "incident" that is weighing on my mind , and I need to get my head back in the game. I know something is off, but I just can't get the motivation to make the needed changes that I know I need to make. Things that would have been no issue when I was in my 20's and 30's are now a huge deal in my head. I have spurts of activity which are usually when loading or unloading my most recent purchases from estate sales, or auctions.  But other than that I am just a web potato.

I really do appreciate seeing the work that you fine folks do, it is very inspiring to me. It is nice to know that someone is being productive.

Baby Steps; I've found taking on small projects that I know I can do well in a short amount of time and building up to bigger ones helps me get out of being stuck at TDC.

Also small projects are a good way to loosen up the muscles and get the neurons firing, before tackling a more complex demanding project.

Complex demanding projects are usually just a bunch of small projects assembled together.  (think gates, etc)

Complex and demanding is what any blacksmith can turn a simple project into.

Frosty The Lucky.

I often feel something is too complex or demanding before I start, and most of the things I forge I basically forge for the first time. Complex it often turns out not to be, but demanding it is. Or time consuming really, I'm still not the most efficient smith.

~Jobtiel

Everything seems like that when you're starting out. The more experience you gain the more ways you learn to simplify the work. It's just part of the learning curve.

Frosty The Lucky.

When trying to climb back onto the horse. I find small projects with a definite endpoint; that you can feel good about completing in a short span in the shop; to make better mounting blocks than larger/longer ones; even if those are composed of subsets of smaller ones.  It's the sense of accomplishment that helps yourself dig out of the hole.  (Hence the barbwire basket icicles I made for Christmas last year.)

Got this blade about the shape i want it. About to start the long hours of grinding...oooo i hate grinding. Still a bit blade heavy if it stays that way i am going to add a bronze counter balance. Just so happens i have access to some 1 1/2" round stock about 6" long bronze. Those boards are 6" wide for size. 

Impressive! Very nice job refining the shape.

That design is SUPPOSED to be blade heavy.  Adding extra weight is not a good idea!